Dubai International Film Festival to stun with 174 films in 9 days

The tenth Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) will have a rich and diverse selection of world and international premieres with a total of 174 feature films, shorts and documentaries from around the world screening alongside an exciting line-up of special events. Omar, by Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe winning Palestinian director Hany Abu Assad, will raise the curtain on the decennial edition on Dec.6. Set to become an Arab classic, the masterfully paced film boasts compelling performances from Adam Bakri, Samer Bisharat, Eyad Hourani and Waleed Zuaiter. David O Russell's American Hustle has been selected for the prestigious Closing Night Gala. Diff will be the first festival to screen the highly anticipated film starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Louis CK and Robert De Niro. The festival will screen a total of 174 features, shorts and documentaries, including 70 world premieres and 11 international premieres from 57 countries in 43 languages from both established and upcoming talent over a nine-day celebration of cinema. The line-up includes over 100 films from the Arab world which highlights the thriving film culture within the region and increased interest in Arab cinema from audiences around the world. To celebrate the 10th edition, there will be two daily red carpet galas at the prestigious Madinat Jumeirah Arena. This year, Diff will present its Lifetime Achievement Awards to multi Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Martin Sheen, one of the greatest actors of his generation, with a career that has seen him appear in more than 65 films. The Arab Lifetime Achievement Award goes to veteran Egyptian film critic Samir Farid. Samir is a giant in his field, tirelessly promoting cinema both within the Arab world and beyond for fifty years. Martin Sheen will take to the stage for an "In conversation” event on Dec.8, which will give rare insight into the wonderfully versatile actor's career. Academy Award winner and IWC Friend of the Brand, Cate Blanchett, will return to Dubai to head the IWC Filmmaker Award jury for the second year running. Other international celebrities flying into Dubai this December include filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, crossover star Irfann Khan and a host of Indian actors including Nawazuddin Siddiqi, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Nimrat Kaur, Arjun Rampal, Mehr Jesia Rampal, Rahul Bose, Jayaram, and Javed Jaffrey. The prestigious Muhr Awards this year will showcase a record number of films — an impressive 90 films will compete for over US$575, 000 in prize money across three categories – Muhr Emirati, Muhr Arab and Muhr Asia Africa. The line-up this year was selected from 3,500 submissions from 143 countries, an overwhelming response that constitutes an over 60 per cent increase from 2012 and reaffirms that filmmakers from around the world are keen to participate in Diff. Arabic features will also be eligible for a variety of prestigious global awards including the FIPRESCI International Prize of the Critics Award. Source: The Gulf Today